A Ledger Blog

A pathfinder's paradise for backpacking, hiking and Scouting.

My son and I have been talking about our next major outdoor conquest: climbing the venerable Half Dome at Yosemite National Park. Yosemite has been an ongoing discussion for years, supported by our successful ascent up 12,440-foot Mt. Baldy in New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo mountains in 2012. Close friends attempted to climb Half Dome in 2011, but were thwarted by the crowds and a slick trail at the subdome, just before getting to the cables. The climb up the cable ladder… Read More »

There are three things almost every kid loves about Scouting: fire, shooting sports, and knives. All three command discipline, adult supervision, and safety education. My father gave me my first knife when I was about seven. It was a simple pen knife with one blade. Dad wasn’t a Scout leader back then, but he knew the implications of allowing a child to have a knife. I recall getting “the talk”. It was to be my pledge that I wouldn’t use… Read More »

If only crowdfunding had been around in the 1950s. My grandfather, John A. Fatica, was an Italian craftsman with exceptional carpentry skills and a brilliant mind for knowing how to get things done with less effort. For several years he worked on the design of a hand axe that had an adjustable head that could be used to chop logs or hew wood like an adz. The base design was produced in several versions that had some minor refinements. The… Read More »

The recent bear hunting permit frenzy made me stop to think about the fact that hunting in the state of Florida is really a year-round activity. Wild hogs, rabbits, possum, coyotes, beavers, skunks, and river rats (nutria) are fair game statewide, 365 days. More popular game like deer, quail, and turkey officially began back on August 1 in Zone A (South Florida). Central Florida tends to fall in Zones B and C, while Zone D covers the panhandle. The official… Read More »

The Boy Scouts of America’s Information Delivery Group has announced that their popular MyScouting site will undergo some site maintenance that includes updated training resources in its ELearning section. Expect the site to be down most of the day, starting at 8 a.m. Central/9 a.m. Eastern. According to the landing page at sign-in, the site should be back up by 3 p.m. Central/4 p.m. Eastern. According to a post on the official Facebook page for the Commissioners of the Boy Scouts… Read More »

In 2011, she hiked the entire Appalachian Trail faster than any man or woman before her, completing the north-to-south route in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes; an average of 47 miles per day. She was named one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year in 2012. She is an ambassador for the American Hiking Society and the author of several hiking-related books. Founder of the Blue Ridge Hiking Company, this Asheville, North Carolina native has logged more than 20… Read More »

About This Blog

Kim Fatica is a marketing professional and former Emmy Award-winning television photojournalist and operations manager originally from Cleveland, Ohio. He’s also a lifelong volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, where he’s been involved with the program since he was a Cub Scout in 1970. He earned his Eagle Scout rank in 1976 and continued on in service as an adult leader, currently serving as an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 22 in Tampa.

He lived his dream of backpacking through the Sangre de Cristo mountain range with his son, Noah, at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. The 12-day trek during the summer of 2012 took them on a memorable 80-mile journey that went through areas near the historic Santa Fe Trail.

Kim earned his undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Bowling Green State University and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Florida Institute of Technology.